Tire-armor.



F. W. SIMONS.

TIRE ARMOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4.1915.

2 snssrs-suin 1.

Szkrzoms Patented Jan. 4; 1916.

F. W. SIMONS.

TIRE ARMOR. I v APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4, 1915. 1'

1,166,861. r 6 Patented Jan. 4, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

cnmmnu PLANOGEAPH couwAsmNa'roN, IL 6.

"citizen of: the United States, residing 'at- Vallejo, in the county :ofS olano and-State of California; have [invented certaiiif nevv. anduseful Improvements in Tire-Armon;

rRAnKw;sinolvs orvantmo'gcamrorvivral '7 j farms-halvin "To (ZZZ whom itmayfc'oncern:

Be a known that I,'-FRANK wis riosg; a

' for which the following isa specification;

'arranged in overlapped relation, the tire is .notj'efi'ectuallyprotected, inasmuch "as nails or tacks or pieces of glass mightcut'through the tread of the tire casing at v c This invention relatestotire armor, and I more part cularly. to that class offarrnor 10 whichiseinbeddedin the body ortreadoi" the tire casing, It has been-proposedto provide the armor'consisting ofarmor plates 7 or strips of metalwhich areemhedded'directly in the material comprising the tread ofthetire casing,' but .this is Wl10lly -l I I1 practical as has "beenfound by experience,

inasmuch as the rubberoffthetire casing Will not-adhere to the platesorstrips,;a'nd as a consequence the said plates or strips in a short'timecut throughthe treadandfin jurec the same practically beyond rep'airhFurthermore, unless the plates or strips are points between fth'ef edgesof the plates" or strips. Furthermore, if-the plates are ar-' ranged inoverlapping" relatlon and em bedded directly in the inaterial ofthetread, the frictional contact .at'theirf overlapped portions Will causethem to become heated,

' thereby'chafing the material of the tread Width, the armor isnotsuiiiciently flexible 1 andcausing' deterioration of the rubbercomprising the'same. F urthermore,-unle's's the plates or strips arerelatively largein V -Wldl3l1 or diameter, it wouldjnot be prace ticalto arrange themfv'vithin the treadoi the tire casing in uniform mannerpreparatory to the process of vulcanization, andif they are ofrelatively"great diameter or to renderits use practical; a;

. From thefore'going, it is obviouszthat'ii' thetire armor of theclass-above briefly described is to prove practical it must possess thedesireddegree of flexibility; the armor plates oi strips must berelatively small in diameter or Width; the plates or strips must overlapin such manner as to present an unbroken layer of metal Within the treadaI1d,-' some means must be provided for 'eflectually, and securelyanchoring the plates or I strips Within the tread soa's to prevent chaifing of'jthe rubber comprisinglthe bread or cut ti'ng of the' rubber.@TheI present; inven-i tion is designed tomcat-all iof these-requirecments in, a thoroughly 'eflicient mann and it waims-{ further to "solfl'c onStiuct theffarmor that it -ma'y be quickly" and readily"applied, Jand,f in fact; as fjea'silyfas" a" canvas ply betWeen-thelayerscomprising the tread pre-H I 'paratcry; to the process, of;vulcanization. lo 1 Inth'e accompanyingdrawings Figure ,1 f i is aperspective view'of a portion of a tire, a part of the-tread beingremoved to show the arrangementl therein vof.the" armor'comprising,the'present invention; Fig '2 is a fragmentary plan viewtransf rmer the arm es Fig. v3 is a transverse sectional view on'j theline 3 8j-of Fig; 2," certain'bfthe strandsIbein'gcjomittedfo'rlfthesake oiclea'r "-nessi" ;Eig., 4=;-is"a similarvievvpn theli'ne:7 V

or Fig." 2.1' F g,, 5 is a circumferential sectional{ view on; the line1 of Fig.v '2."

,Fig. Qisa-viewsiinilar to F ig 2 ,illustrat-I ing a slightinodification ofthe; invention; Fig. 7 is a circumferential sectionalvievvjo'n thelin'e 'ii liiofF 6.;'Fig. 8 is.a'perspec a 'tive View ofapportion of "oneof theftransverse strips showninFigs. Y ,6 and Fig. 9:is fa.perspectivefvietv,of a "slightlyfniodifiedf I form of arm'orplate adapted forf employment in the general structure shownin Figs. i6,and. 8 v Fig. 10 isfa similar view, illustrating another formv of.armor'jplajte; Fig. i 11 is afsimilar vievv,'l illustrating anotherm'odifiedform of armorplate'. Fig. 12isa" fplan'viewillustrating a 'fmodification of the structure sho'iv'n FigL-S.

C rrespon'ding' and: lik

to'jin the following description. and indieparts are-referred.

"catedfinallfthfiyievvs of, the accompanying f drawings'bythefsairielreference characters. I. Th'e'? armoryembodying thepresent lnvena or it may be applied't01a vvorn tire body in the' processof vulcanizing a "new tread-:1" ftheretof-f." I

' In Figr l thereis illustrated a portion 0f a vehicle tire-"the.casingof which is" indie cated by'the numeral 1 and the treadofthecasing by the numeral 2; '1 The? drawings,

considered as a Whole, illustrate'tvsio forms of the invention a'nd inbothinistances thev armor consists essentially of a number of transversearmor strips arranged in a longitudinal or circumferential series andwoven together to form a continuous armor sheet. In that form of theinvention shown in Figs. 2 to 5 inclusive, each of the armor stripscomprises a number of preferably rectangular armor plates 8 which are ofrelatively small dimensions and these plates may beoi metal or any othersuitable mate'- rial, as for example, compressed fiber possessing thedesired degree of toughness. In the completed strips, the armor plates'3 are arranged in a'staggered series with their lateral edge portionsin overlapped but spaced relation as clearly shown in F 3 ofthedrawings, and in the process of weaving or connecting these armorplates forming the'series a number of transverse strands a of cord ortape or the like are passed between the upper and inner plates of theseries and are stretched taut, it being observed by reference to F 1g. 2of the draw-1 ings that these strands l extend 1n spaced parallelrelation with respect to each other and alternately transverselyaboveand be,

low the lower and upper ones of the plates respectively. In addition tothe strands t other strands, indicated at 5, are v interwoven with theplates comprising the series in a manner which will now be explained.

The strands 5 pass between oralternate vith the strands l and'byreference to Fig. 3 it will be'observed that each strand 5 ispassedabout'and beneath each lateral edge portion of each of the upperplates of the series as indicated at16, and thence over, about andbeneath the adj accnt edge portions of the next adjacent lower plates ofthe series. It will now be apparent, that when the strands 4: and 5 havebeen applied to the armor plates in the manner described and all aredrawn taut, the armor plates will be securely anchored a a'inst thestrands in staggered and overlapped spaced relation, as

above pointed out. The ends of the strands & and 5 of each armor stripmay be united,

as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, either perma nently or temporarily, andsaid ends of the strands extend a greater or less distance be 'yond theends of the series of armor plates so as to provide means for 'anchoringthe strips. in the materialof the tread of the casing'in a manner whichwill be presently more fully eX alained. p

In completing the armor sheet the required number of armor strips ustdescribed are laid in a transverse series in staggered relation withtheir edge portions overlapping, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 5 ofthe drawings, but with their said portions spaced so that the seriescomprises an upper set and a lower set of strips anda number of strandsof cord or tape, indicated at 7, are

passed longitudinally in parallel relation to a continuous series.

each other between the upper and lower sets comprising the series, andthese strands correspond in function to the strands of the individualarmor members or strips. A

. number of strands of cord or tape, indicated Q between the strands 6and that said strands 7 and 8 intersect the strands 4: and 5 inasmuchasthey extend longitudinally with respect to the plates 3 of the armorstrips. it will also be observed by reference to the drawings, thatcertainjfof the strands 7, in dicated. specifically by the numeral 7,interwoven with the projecting ends of the strands 4: and 5 so that a'border Sis provided extending longitudinally at each side of the armorsheet, as a whole, and throughout the entire length thereof. These wovenborders serve as a means for anchoring or sec ing the side edge'portionsof the armor sheet in the material comprising thetread of the tirecasing. It is preferable that in arranging the arm or strips to form theseries, theiupper and lower armor plates of adja; centstrips be arrangedin staggered relation. Thus, each plate of each armor strip will be instaggered relation to the. two adjacent armor plates of the nextadjacent strip on either side. To state this construction in otherwords, attention is called to the fact that between the adjacent lateraledges. of each two adjacent armor plates at the up per or under side or"each armor strip, there is a space, indicated 9, such spaces beingillustrated clearly in Fig. 3, in arranging the strips in a series, eachof these spaces will be closed at thefront and rear by the armor platesof the next adjacent armor strips. Subsequent to. the carrying out ofthe last described weaving process, strips 10 of rubber and layers ofsoft rely her, indicated at 10, are applied to the up per and undersides of the a 'mor sheet and the sheet is passed between compressingrolls which serve to'force the layers of soft rubber into the spacesbetween the several strands l, 5, 7 and 8, and to fill all of theinterstices in the sheet as a whole with rubber. These layers of softrubber will be pressed into and fill the spaces which occur between thearmor strips themselves,which strips, and these spaces also are more orless completely filled with soft rubber, during the rolling orcompressing operation. it w ll now be understood that the strands 5massif,

unite the plate of each armor strip in such a manner that the plates mayhave relative angular movement and as a consequence,-

each strip is. in itselfmore or less, flexible,

the strands affording practically 'aihin'ge connection between theplates] It, will furthermore be understood that the strands 8 serve,exactly .the same purpose in connecting the armor strips in a seres, sothatthe'farmorj sheet as awhole may be flexed transversely as well aslongituc'linally and may conse-,

quently be readily caused to conform to the v transverse andcircumferential curvature of I the tire body. Further'it will beapparent that a continuous and unbroken metallic armor sheet isprovided, inasmuch asfitlie a strip 112 of tape or other similarmaterial,

1 coated upon both sides with any. suitable ad hesive rubbercomposition, and a number of. armor plates, indicated in general at 13,are;

secured to the strip in a series extending longitudinally thereof 1 andalternately 1 against the opposite sides of'the strip so that thelateral "edge portions of the plates will overlap in the series, Inorder that the plates may-be so secured, the forward and; "rear ends ofeachpl'ate are formedwith tongues 14 which are clenched" about the;

longitudinal edge portions of the strip. The

strips or tapes 12 in this structure-of course serve the same purpose asthe strands l and 5 previously described,- and in completing thearmorsheet, the required number of the armorstrips are assembled inoverlapped relation, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7 and strands l5 and- 16 ofcordor tape are interwoven with the said strips so as to connect 1 themin a longitudinal series. Layers of soft rubber are applied to the wovenarmor sheet thus formed in the same manner as to the armor sheet in Fig.'2.

Figs. 9,10 and lllillustrate modified forms, of the armor plate 13 andthe plates in these several figures are indicated respectively by thenumerals 17, 18 and 19, and are respec- ,tively rectangular, lozengeshape, and ellip- I tica1... If desired, in order to lighten the platesand to provide for a more firm anchorageof the plates, any or all of theseveral forms may beformed with apertures, such indicated at-19 in. Fig.9, or With slots, asine dicatedat 20 in Fig. 10.

Afurther modification of theindividnal" armor strips is-shown in Fig.12,.in which fi ure the numeral 21 indicates a series of,

2: ,L parallel tapes of suitable length having applied thereto armorplates 22 having tongues 23 clenched about the said tapes. Aninspecrelation by any-suitable means.

' strips in the series.

tion of Figs."21andfhfof-the drawings will render it 'clearthat theplates are more or 'le'ss' 'completelycovered by the intersecting andi'r'iterwoven uniting strands and "as the plates areheld in, properrel'ativepositions by these strands and" the r'ubberofithe tire J body,will firmly adhere to the:strIands, '-'dis placement cf, the severalplates 13 rendered unlikely 'asalso the1r fr ctionalcdntact' and. V

.encv for the armor to become 'xdlsplace'olf consequently there will belittleor'no tendwithin the tread of the tire; .1.

Ifdesired the armor strips; ma hem ranged to extend circumferentially ofthe tire and may be flexibly connected in this Having thus described theinvention, hat

is claimed asnew ;is:

1 Tire armor including a series of armor 7 strips, each comprising aseries fof. overing the same, and means flexibly the stripsoi theserles.

2. Tire armorincluding a seriesfofarmor lapped armor )'lates, flexiblestrand's inter- I I woven' with ,theplateS, and flexiblyconnectconnectmg strips, each strip comprising a series of armor platesarranged" 1nstaggered relation overlapped, flexible elements extendingbe' tween the sets of armor plates,'flexible ele.-- ments interwovenwlth the armorplate s' of I with their adjacent edge portions spaced and:7

the series, and means flexibly connecting the strips, each stripcomprising a series armor plates arranged in stag ered relation "withtheir adjacent edge portionsspaced and 3;".Tirearm0r including a seriesof armor I overlapped,- fieXible elements extending .be- V tweenthe'sets-of armor-plates, flexible ,ele-I ments interwoven with thearmor plates of. .,the series, and flexible elements interwoven with thestrips and fleiiibly connecting; the

*4. Tire armor including members arranged 1n setsln staggered overlappedrelation, flexible elements extending between, thesets ofythe series,fie'Xible-ele 'mentsinterwoven with the members in the sets, andafcushioningsubstance filling the spaces and interstices between theplates and the said flexible elements. 5. T re armor including a seriesor" a 'mor strips, eachstrip comprising aseriesof a series of armor rarmor plates, flexible elements interwoveni V with the armor plates ofeach series [and'at armor lates means fiexiblvconnectin the their end-sextending beyond theseries of armor strips of the series, andQfieibIeele Q nients connecting the projecting ends of the of the armor.

first mentioned'flexible'elements at each side.

- 6. Tire armor including a seriesof armor V Strips, each of the armorstripslcomprisingj a series of armor plates, flexible strandsinterwovenwiththe armor plates of each series whereby to flexiblyconnect the same, In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature the saidstrands at their ends extending hein presence of two-Witnesses.

'yond the end plates of the respective series FF ANK Sis/IONS q andunited at their extremities, ineans flexv h *b ibly connecting theseries of armor strips Witnesses:

and flexible strands interwoven with the JAMEs V. OHARA,

extended ends of the first nientionedstrands. R. J. R. ADEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Fatents,

Washington, I). e.

